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lucidlilacdream t1_ja3ps75 wrote

Reply to comment by PinkLemonade2 in Six-year-old Chesterville Girl Attacked by Dog Required 1,000 Stitches and Won’t Be Able to Smile Again by SarahDrish

Most shelter dogs get labeled pit mix if they have short hair and any kind of pit feature. Heck, my very clearly a yellow lab mix was labeled as pit mix when I got him. So, just something to consider.

I will say, Maine does have a big problem with off lease dogs that owners swear are friendly and elderly people with dogs that are just too energetic for them. I’ve had my dog snapped at a few times now by untrained dogs owned by elderly people 75-80+ who just cannot control the dog. And, unfortunately, I think a lot of people are also adopting dogs from shelters, and shelter dogs tend to be more challenging and can have unpredictable pasts. I do think people end up with aggressive dogs from shelters that were not forthcoming with the behavior of the dog. I say this as someone with two shelter dogs (not pits before anyone downvotes). They are not aggressive but they are high maintenance dogs that needed a lot of socializing and training, and their personalities were not what the shelter had described.

If I got a dog again, frankly, I’d adopt a puppy of a predictable breed. There’s also an issue with these rover and dog sitting apps because anyone can become a dog sitter because they like dogs and need money whether or not they have experience with training dogs, which, clearly, can be really dangerous.

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PinkLemonade2 t1_ja3qmtw wrote

I'm surprised at that, regarding your pup. I've worked at multiple shelters and they usually go out of their way to NOT say pitbull, for a list of reasons. My experience would say the exact opposite of what you have stated regarding "most shelter dogs".

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lucidlilacdream t1_ja3snmu wrote

I didn’t get my dog in the northeast, so it could be regional. And it doesn’t say pitbull, it says pit mix. I noticed that with almost all medium sized dogs when I got my dog. My dog doesn’t even have any pit features. He has a long face and looks like a lab. He does have shortish hair, but not the same kind of hair as pits. So, I remember it being weird. Conversely almost all small dogs were labeled chihuahua mix.

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PinkLemonade2 t1_ja3t18u wrote

Could be. Or just that specific shelter. One of the shelters I worked at was in the southeast (a SW Virginia Humane Society), and it was as I mentioned. We'd do anything we could to not label a dog that way.

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lucidlilacdream t1_ja3t3v6 wrote

This was in the southwest. I don’t know what the rules are. Humane society may be different than the county shelter as well in terms of whatever system they use.

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PinkLemonade2 t1_ja3ubz6 wrote

Could be. Like I said before, I've worked at a few different kinds of shelters, in different areas, and it's been pretty consistent regarding this topic.

I mentioned the southeast shelter specifically because in my experience that neck of the woods still has a very long way to go regarding how they treat animals, yet they still had policies like I described.

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Unable-Bison-272 t1_ja4cd5i wrote

My local shelter is almost exclusively pits or pit mixes. They are almost invariably labeled as labs or lab mixes. The shelters know they aren’t safe as house pets, most people know they aren’t safe so the shelters lie.

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PinkLemonade2 t1_ja4eqvr wrote

That's 100% not true. There are many reasons why a shelter would try to not use the word pitbull when describing a dog, but it is absolutely NOT because "they know they aren't safe as house pets".

The absolute worst case scenario for a shelter is a bad adoption, for many reasons. Shelters have nothing to gain, and alot to lose if they're having adoptions end poorly.

First and foremost, most of these dogs are mixed breed, so let's get that bit out of the way.

Now, as an example as to why a shelter would avoid using a pitbull label on a dog? Many places (apartment complexes, condos, gated communities) have self imposed rules that don't allow certain breeds, and often it includes pitbulls. So by avoiding that label, shelters are increasing the opportunities for the dog to find a home.

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